The second edition of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s mass contact programme was a smooth affair, with the much-trumpeted threat of the Opposition LDF to unleash a wave of protests ending up a damp squib on Friday.
The event turned out to be a big solace for scores of petitioners and a political fillip to Chandy. LDF workers called off their protest after three and a half hours, reflecting the same sort of confusion which had gripped them during the recent Secretariat siege over the solar scam. Hundreds of petitioners, mostly from economically weak classes and suffering from multiple ailments as well as those under the BPL, were granted relief. Aid to the tune of `1.3 crore was granted to 1,643 applicants.
The Chief Minister, accompanied by Union minister Shashi Tharoor, was greeted by slogan-shouting LDF workers, who were later arrested.